An expert predicts Bangkok will be partly submerged in the next 30 years

Parts of Bangkok are at risk of getting submerged permanent in the next 30 years because due to land subsidence coupled with rising sea level, said Associate Professor Vichitbusaba Marom, a town planning expert at Thammasat University, on Friday.

She pointed out that sea level has been rising at an average of 5 mm annually while land in Bangkok has been subsiding at an average of 2-28 mm a year with the western side of the Chao Phraya river subsiding at more than 10 mm annually compared to an average of 15 mm on the eastern side.

Land subsidence in industrial areas is faster, averaging 30 mm a year, said the professor, adding that this means, in the next 30 years, parts of Bangkok will be under water.

She pointed out that another factor contributing to greater risk of flooding is rain and water runoff from the north and quick urban development such as construction of buildings that block the natural flow of water.